Abū Hanīfah was a leading authority in Islamic Law and an expert in the use of analogical reasoning (qiyās) to resolve legal questions. He could speak about legal reasoning with razor-sharp precision, and he has enjoyed the general acclaim of the scholarly community for his acumen and erudition.
Al-Shāfi`ī said: “All people are indebted to Abū Hanīfah for their legal knowledge.”
Al-Dhahabī said: “His authority in Islamic Law and the precision of his legal knowledge are indisputable and without doubt.”
A number of leading jurists have attested: “I know of no jurist more knowledgeable than Abū Hanīfah.” Al-Shāfi`ī and Ibn al-Mubārak were among those who made this statement.
Ibn al-Mubārak also said: “If the textual evidence is known but requires the exercise of opinion in its application, then the opinion would be that of Mālik, Sufyān al-Thawrī, and Abū Hanīfah. Abū Hanīfah was the best, most intellectually precise, and erudite of the three. He was certainly the most knowledgeable about the Law.”
His student Abū Yūsuf said: “I never met anyone more knowledgeable than Abū Hanīfah about the meaning of hadith or more capable of identifying their legal implications.”
When Shu`bah b. al-Hajjāj learned of Abū Hanīfah’s death, he said: “The legal knowledge of Kufa died with him. May Allah have mercy to him, and on us.”
Al-Nadr b. Shumayl said: “When it came to Islamic legal knowledge, people were asleep until Abū Hanīfah woke them up with his penetrating, clear, and concise way of explaining things.”
Indeed, Abū Hanīfah renewed and reinvigorated Islamic legal thinking, and he contributed immensely to its theoretical underpinnings and in relating textual evidence to the practical concerns of the day. He was especially capable of identifying the legal rationale behind an established legal ruling and determine its presence in a new and unprecedented development. In this way, he was able to respond effectively to the questions that people needed answers for.
When Yazīd b. Hārūn was asked whether Abū Hanīfah or Sufyān al-Thawrī was the better jurist, he replied: “Sufyān knows more hadith, but Abū Hanīfah has greater legal understanding.”
Ibn al-Mubārak said: “If anyone were entitled to speak on the basis of his own opinion, it would have been Abū Hanīfah.”
Muhammad b. Bishr al-`Abdī related the following experience he had as Abū Hanīfah’s student:
I used to attend classes with both Abū Hanīfah and Sufyān al-Thawrī. Once, I went to Abū Hanīfah and he asked me where I was coming from. I told him that I had been with Sufyān. Abū Hanīfah then said to me: “You have come from a man that if the eminent Successors `Alqamah and al-Aswad were around, they would have need of the likes of him.”
Then I went to Sufyān, and he also asked me where I was coming from. I told him I had been with Abū Hanīfah. He then said: “You have come from them most knowledgeable jurist in the world.”
Yahyā b. Ma`īn said:
I have heard Yahyā b. Sa`īd al-Qattān say: “We will not deny the truth before Allah. We have never heard any legal opinions better than those of Abū Hanīfah. We adopt most of what he says.”
Yahyā b. Sa`īd would always adopt the legal verdicts of Kufa’s scholars, and he would prefer Abū Hanīfah’s opinion from among them. He would follow his opinion when his colleagues differed with him.
`Abd al-Razzāq al-San`ānī said: “I was with Ma`mar when Ibn al-Mubārak came to see him. Ma`mar said: ‘Of all the men I have known, Abū Hanīfah is the most knowledgeable, well-spoken, erudite, rational, and articulate in matters of Law. At the same time, I know of no one more anxious to avoid introducing a matter into Allah’s religion wherein there is any doubt’.”
Al-Dhahabī said: “When it comes to juristic knowledge, the precise application of reason, and a nuanced understanding of matters, Abū Hanīfah was as good as one could get. People will always be indebted to him for that.”
Substantive Arguments & Abundant Evidence
Al-Shāfi`ī was with Mālik b. Anas when a man came up and asked him if he ever met Abū Hanīfah. Mālik answered: “Yes I have. I saw a man of such calibre that if he claimed that this iron rod was made of gold, he would convince you that it was true.”
Al-Ja`far b. al-Rabī` said: “I stayed with Abū Hanīfah for five years, and never met anyone who spoke less than he did. But if someone asked him a legal question, he would open up, and his speech would flow like a river. His voice was audible and clear.”
Al-Muwaffaq b. Ahmad al-Makkī, in his biography of Abū Hanīfah, gives an interesting account of a debate that took place between Abū Hanīfah and a group of atheists:
Abu Hanīfah said: “What would you say to a man who told you the following: I saw a ship laden with cargo and weighed down with goods, in the middle of some ocean, being battered by gales and rough waves, but it continues on its course without a navigator or anybody to steer it. Is something like permitted by reason?”
They replied “No, reason does not accept it, nor can the imagination entertain it.” Imam Abu Hanīfah said, “Glory be to God! If the dictates of reason rule out the possibility of a ship keeping its course in these conditions without a navigator or a crew, then how is it possible for this world to go on despite the perpetual flux of its conditions and activities, and despite its vast dimensions, without anyone forming it, maintaining it, or bringing it into existence?”
Though this debate is well-known, it is, it is not exceptionally ingenious or original. It is something that even a lay person could come up with. I only mention it because of how famous it is.
Muhammad b. `Abd Allah al-Ansārī said: “Abū Hanīfah’s intellect could be discerned from his mode of speech, his way of walking, the way he entered a room, and the way he departed.”
Yazīd b. Hārūn said: “I have met a lot of people, but no one who was more intelligent, more dignified, or more pious than Abū Hanīfah.”
Concern for His Students
Abū Hanīfah’s students were wholly devoted to their studies. Some of them previously had occupations to support themselves, so Abū Hanīfah provided them with a monthly bursary instead. Abū Yūsuf was the most prominent of these. He came from a poor family, and his parents did not like his decision to pursue Islamic knowledge. So Abū Hanīfah supported him and his parents financially. Abū Yūsuf admitted to this when later he wrote: “He supported me and my family for ten years. When I told him how generous he was, he said to me: “You haven’t seen (my teacher) Hammād.”
He had great patience with his students. Not only would he support them and their families financially if they were poor, but when they reached a certain level of knowledge, he would tell them: “Now you have become truly enriched with the knowledge of what Allah has made lawful and prohibited.”
He was a generous host and a hospitable companion. His students and associates were drawn to his kindness and amiable behaviour. They always spoke highly of his conduct. He was faithful and magnanimous to those he taught. We have already mentioned how he used to remember them in his prayers, and that he said: “I also beseech Allah’s forgiveness for all those I’ve learned from and all the people I’ve taught.”
It is this high-mindedness that made him the foremost scholar he was. He sought Allah’s forgiveness equally for his teachers and his students. He supported his students from his own wealth and made himself a means to facilitate their education. He strove to impart knowledge to the people he met and develop their capabilities, in spite of the abuse and ill-treatment he received from some of them. This is a rare quality that is indispensible for those who are leaders in the true sense of the word.
Accolades of the Scholars
Abū Hanīfah had a massive impact on Islamic scholarship. He achieved wide recognition on account of the great efforts he expended throughout his life for the furtherance of knowledge. The scholarly community acknowledged him to be one of the foremost jurists of all time.
`Abd Allah b. al-Mubārak said: “Had it not been for the succour Allah provided for me through Abū Hanīfah and Sufyān al-Thawrī, I would have been like all the other ordinary people.”
Sufyān b. `Uyaynah said: “I never laid eyes upon anyone like Abū Hanīfah.” Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī said: “May Allah have mercy on Abū Hanīfah. He was indeed one of the foremost scholars.”
When Shu`bah b. al-Hajjāj learned of Abū Hanīfah’s death, he said: “The legal knowledge of Kufa died with him. May Allah have His mercy to him, and on us.”
Hammād b. Zayd related the following:
I wanted to undertake the Hajj, so I went to Ayyūb to say my farewells to him. He said to me: “I have heard that a righteous man, the jurist of Kufa, is going to perform Hajj this year. If you meet him, please pass my greetings on to him.”
`Abd Allah b. Dāwūd al-Khuraybī said: “It is every Muslim’s duty to beseech Allah in their prayers on Abū Hanīfah’s behalf, because of how well he has preserved for us the Sunnah and the Law.”
`Alī b. `Āsim said: “If the knowledge of Imam Abū Hanīfah were weighed in the balance against that of all of his contemporaries, his knowledge would tip the scales.”
Ibn `Abd al-Barr said: “He was a foremost authority in Islamic Law. He was proficient in his legal opinion and the application of qiyās. He had a keen intellect and a nuanced understanding of how to deduce legal verdicts. He had a solid grasp of his field. He possessed great intelligence and reasoning skills, while exercising considerable reserve and caution.”
Ibn Taymiyah said: “Though people have disagreed with him and objected strongly about many things, no one doubts his extensive knowledge and understanding of the law.”
When he made this statement, Ibn Taymiyah was speaking in the context of particular legal questions wherein people had disagreed with Abū Hanīfah. In general, when speaking about scholars, it is inappropriate to begin by mentioning how other have disagreed with them, especially since disagreement is a reality for every scholar.
Abū Hanīfah’s Legacy
Historians agree that Abū Hanīfah died in the year 150 AH, though they disagree about the month. He was probably seventy when he died, depending on what date we accept as his date of birth.
Al-Hasan b. Yūsuf said: “They had to offer the funeral prayer for Abū Hanīfah six times to accommodate the crowd of people in attendance.”
May Allah have mercy on his soul. He gave to posterity an enormous and precious legacy – one of knowledge. He left behind a large number of students who came up under his tutelage, and were well-grounded in critical thinking and legal reasoning. He established a major school of law which, through the centuries, has produced some of the greatest works of law and legal theory the world has ever seen, as well as many of the most eminent jurists.
His school has endured the test of time, and today its adherents number in the tens of millions, primarily in Central Asia, India, Turkey, and Iraq, but also in Egypt and every other land where there are Muslims. His school has proven immensely useful for all legal thinkers wishing to deduce rulings for new and unprecedented situations. Along with the imams of the other three schools of law, he has helped to steer a blessed course for the Muslims. May Allah be pleased with them all.
